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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. cue — a hint
  3. march — the month
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. cue — for pool
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. tear — from crying
  10. roll — a cake
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. tube — a container
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. cue — a signal
  16. tube — the underground
  17. march — the month
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. roll — a list
  23. fork — in a road
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com